PROPS & DISSES: Justice for all … even pigs

I’m not a doctor. I have no expertise in the medical field other than surfing WebMD occasionally to self-diagnose some weird rash. I have never stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. But I know when I’m being hustled and there is no such thing as ADHD.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a load of bunk instigated by Big Pharma and perpetuated by lazy practitioners and an all-too-gullible public who will buy anything as long as the huckster tells them their kid is “special.” The diagnosis isn’t widely recognized outside of the United States and certainly isn’t as medicated.

Pharmaceutical companies selling Ritalin and Adderall are having a field day playing on the emotions of parents who, at the first sign that their child may actually need some attention or supervision beyond what the nanny and daycare can provide, are bee-lining to CVS for a bottle of “all better.” This search for a biochemical cause above common-sense parenting skills, which seem to be rapidly eroding in our society, is frightening. Your kid doesn’t need pills; he probably needs a boot in his ass and a curfew.

A trip to the woodshed used to cure ADHD patients. Now it’s a visit to lab coats. Laramie has 10 practicing therapists specializing in ADHD alone listed on the Psychology Today website. How do they get the kids to lie down on the couch for even five minutes to talk about ways their mom screwed them up? It’s shameful what the American healthcare industry has become.

A recent FDA study found a 46 percent rise in ADHD prescriptions. The latest trend is diagnosing adult ADHD. I must have that because at least three times while writing this column I have been distracted enough to watch a ‘Harlem Shake’ YouTube video or see what mindless drivel my Facebook friends have posted about their own ADHD workdays.

I think parents today are being preyed upon. It seems the last thing they want to hear is that their child is perfectly normal. It’s so in vogue right now to be able to hang some letters like ADD, ADHD, ASD, or AS on your offspring. It’s the prestige-chasing childcare equivalent of mom and dad slapping on an MD, PhD, or ESQ at the end of their name to signify they’re just a little but different (better) than the rest of us.

“My precious Edward is ADD with a touch of Aspergers,” one parent might brag at a PTA meeting. “He can play Beethoven’s ‘Piano Concerto No. 4’ flawlessly from memory but he also keeps setting the dog on fire whenever I make his bologna sandwiches with too much mustard.”

Wake up. Your kid is not special if he’s hyper. If you have a squirmy third-grader who can’t sit still or concentrate, and is acting out, you don’t need to run to the medicine cabinet. Just tell the little goblin no Xbox ’til he finishes his homework and watch that ADHD go into remission pronto.

People who abuse animals are sick in the head. And animal abuse has been shown to lead to violence upon humans and other antisocial behavior as empathy-challenged mouth-breathers look for ever more deviant ways to get their kicks torturing living creatures.

A small measure of justice was done last week as five former employees of a hog farm in Wheatland were convicted of multiple counts of animal cruelty and sentenced to probation and fines of $530 each for four of the defendants.

Nine total were cited for cruelty to animals after an undercover video made by The Humane Society for the United States last May showed employees of Wyoming Premium Farms (a Tyson Foods supplier) kicking, punching and throwing pigs and piglets against a wall. It showed workers striking mother pigs with their fists and kicking them when the pigs did not want to leave their offspring.

The video received enough views on YouTube (663,292 to date) that Tyson cut ties with WPF even after the Wheatland pig farm fired all nine employees charged. Close public scrutiny also forced the Wyoming Livestock Board and the Platte County Attorney’s Office to follow up on the case with diligence – it took less than one year (barely) to get some convictions.

About Jake Nichols

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9 Comments

Anonyholic II

April 17, 2013 at 2:27 am

Jake (sigh) – I strongly suggest you attend Dr. Riddell’s little talk today. You might learn something. It’s clear from your ADHD rant you need to be educated on this, your disclaimer as a non-medical person notwithstanding. Yes, we are over-medicated as a society, but this is real.

Speaking of over medicated children, today the News and Guide ran a story over a smashed hand at Sweet Peas. Since paramedics were called I’m willing to bet it more involved than just that. But we don’t know and neither does N&G so why is it a story? Meanwhile, a child dies at C-V and hardly a peep from the local press. Sounds like a journalistic opportunity right there Jake.

On ADHD, Nothing has made me jump up and down with glee more than that article in such a long time! I was so thrilled to finally read someone speak up about our over medicated, and horrible parenting practices of today, I had to read it out loud to my roommates (who all agreed strongly) Good god parents, get a grip or don’t breed. Not everything has to be treated with a pill!! Children are supposed to be hyper. Its so trendy to be “sick” nowadays its insane! People should not know what celicac’s or crohn’s disease even is, yet all of us has it, or a brother, or our mom… I for one would like to be “different” and “special” by being just me. Normal. Healthy.

ADHD is real and but only because of societal expectations. I have several friends who straight up don’t function in society because of ADHD. If you ask them to go camping or do something interesting the seem like totally normal people, but ask them to stand in line for 45 min or to sit still for an 8 hour shift and they will tell you they can’t. These are adults, adult who have had these symptoms since 3rd grade. It is not as though there is something wrong with them, it is just that they don’t fit in to society and need medication to meet social expectations. Same thing with depression, if I wasn’t required to stay within social boundaries I wouldn’t be on medication. The fact is society requires this of me am so I am medicated just like my friends. It is a choice between burn out or find help. So to you and your entitled perspectives, your experience isn’t that of everyone else. Have some compassion.

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